


A Lonely Place for Muggles

by cmshaw



Category: DCU - Comicverse, Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Gen, first lines meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-07-01
Updated: 2008-07-01
Packaged: 2017-10-05 11:30:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cmshaw/pseuds/cmshaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was Remus who brought him in, small and quiet with that <i>hair</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Lonely Place for Muggles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dorrie6](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=dorrie6).



It was Remus who brought him in, small and quiet with that _hair_. "He was in the Forbidden Forest last night," he said grimly.

"Oh, the poor darling!" Mrs Weasley began, swinging forward the length of Mr Weasley's long arm as he held tightly to her shoulder. She couldn't quite reach the boy to hug him, but she looked like she wanted to. The boy looked over her shoulder coolly, which made Harry distrust him; only a Slytherin would turn up his nose at hugs from Mrs Weasley. He, Ron, and Hermione hung back from the Order of the Phoenix crowd around the boy, but Fred and George pushed forward.

"Don't recognize you, mate," George said.

"What year are you, anyway?" Fred asked.

"Which house?" George asked.

The boy glanced from Mr Weasley to Remus, then said, "I'm in year thirteen."

"Thirteen?" George said.

"No such year," Fred replied.

"Oh," Hermione said sharply, and then put her hand over her mouth.

"Miss Granger?" Remus asked.

Harry and Ron tugged her forward. "I think he might be in a muggle school, sir," she said to Remus. "It's how they count."

"A muggle school!" said Mr Weasley, letting go of his wife. "Really! They go on that long, then? Lots of education in plugs?"

"He can't be," Remus said sharply. "He claimed to have information about the Death Eaters."

Sirius, who had been scowling silently up to that point, uncoiled and stalked forward. "Let's hear it, then," he said.

The boy swallowed, bobbed his head, and said, "Yes, Mr Black." He knelt down, slid a bookbag off of his back that hit the floor heavily, and began handing up notebooks. Muggle notebooks, Harry saw, with metal spirals and blue lines, and when he leaned forward he saw three-ring binders still in the bag.

"Muggle stuff for sure," he muttered to Ron and Hermione, and Hermione nodded until her hair was bouncing.

"Do you think he's a squib?" she whispered. "He must be, to be going to a muggle school instead of Hogwarts."

"Not like you can refuse the letter," Harry whispered back, remembering his own blizzard of invitations.

"Well, actually," Hermione said, drawing in a deep breath.

Sirius stopped flipping through the notebooks the boy was handing him. "Remus, look," he said, handing something over.

Remus frowned. He was, Harry noticed, still holding his wand. He was pointing it casually toward the floor, but that didn't appear to be fooling anyone, including the boy. "Why approach me?" he asked. "The Forbidden Forest is very dangerous."

The boy nodded. "But I could get into it. The route's marked in there," and he waved toward a notebook that Mrs Weasley was inspecting. "And I had to get this to you. You're not," he paused, glancing up at Sirius and then around the room, "You're not doing very well, are you? Mr Snape hasn't been able to send you very much information." Harry gasped, and he wasn't the only one. The boy nodded. "Nobody suspects a muggle boy. I've been watching for a long time."

"How long," Remus said.

"I saw the fight between Mr Black and Mr Pettigrew, sir," the boy said.

"You should have been Obliviated," Sirius said.

The boy actually smiled. "That's the memory charm, isn't it," he said, sounding a little like Hermione when she was allowed to answer in class. He shrugged. "I was only three. Maybe they thought I wouldn't remember?"

This guy didn't look any older than Harry. He'd probably be a fantastic Seeker if he weren't a muggle.

The boy looked right at Harry. "And you never noticed me at all, did you?"

Harry said, "From where?"

The boy quirked a smile. "I live five blocks from -- Mrs Figg," he said, suddenly urgent. "Have you seen her?"

"She's on a mission," Remus said.

"Oh, good," the boy said. When Remus raised his eyebrows, he said, "I thought she might have been, you know, taken." He waved his hand at the notebooks. "I couldn't confirm anything, but I don't know that I have all of their locations. Some of them might be unplottable, like this place."

Mrs Weasley put down the notebooks in her hands, swept forward, and hauled him into a hug, although she completely failed to ruffle his hair. Remus and Mr Weasley looked resigned; the boy looked a little terrified. "What's your name, sweetie?" she said.

"Tim," the boy said. "Tim Drake. I'd like to help."

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to <http://dorrie6.insanejournal.com/621466.html?thread=1411994#t1411994>. Inspired by [_Trust the Morning_ by dorrie6](http://community.livejournal.com/emotionalperil/35663.html).


End file.
